NBA analyst suggests Bulls make blockbuster signing with Chris Paul this season. Here’s why it originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Vice President Artūras Karnišovas and the Bulls’ front office are facing a lot of questions as they approach a crucial offseason.
Should/should they re-sign DeMar DeRozan? Will they pull the trigger on a trade to send Zach LaVine away? How will they approach Patrick Williams’ upcoming free agency?
Most importantly, Lonzo Ball is expected to be available for the first game of the regular season after missing more than 2.5 years due to three separate knee surgeries since January 2022.
To help solve the Bulls’ offseason dilemmas, ESPN’s NBA writer Chris Herring suggests the team make a splash in free agency.
“Even if Ball can come back now that he has undergone a meniscus transplant, Chicago needs a table setter, either to serve as a starter as Ball settles into the fold or to relieve him and play decent minutes,” he wrote. ‘And who better to do that? [Chris] Paul, who, even as he approaches the age of 40, is still a solid attacking player.”
Haring’s point is justified; the Bulls don’t have a true half-court organizer. That used to be Ball, who could space the floor from a half-court to a full-court. But even if he returns to the floor for the Bulls’ first game, there’s no guarantee he’ll be the same player.
The Bulls could find that in Paul, who is undoubtedly one of the smartest players to play basketball. He is known for his exceptional IQ and facilitation skills. He would be a strong addition to any team in the NBA, but especially the Bulls, who lack a strong facilitator.
For the Warriors last season, Paul came off the bench and started just 18 of the 58 games he played for the team. That could motivate the team to part with him before June 28 to avoid paying him the $30 million he’s due this season.
But the Bulls, as mentioned above, have a lot of questions to answer before exploring any new additions. Their decisions for DeRozan, LaVine and Williams will determine whether or not they will have the flexibility to make major additions in free agency this summer.
If they bring back all three, they will undoubtedly no longer have room to sign a player of Paul’s caliber. But if they — for some reason — lose all three players, their cap space will increase dramatically enough to sign a big-name player this offseason.
The question is: which direction do the Bulls want to go? They’ve been trying to get a competitive start going since 2021, when the Bulls acquired Ball, DeRozan, Alex Caruso in the summer and Nikola Vucevic at the prior trade deadline. But after missing the play-offs in consecutive seasons, Karnišovas admitted change is on the horizon.
“I said several times today: this group, something is not working,” he said in April. “I have to find ways to find a group that is going to make improvements. We have been doing it for a few years now and it hasn’t worked,” Karnišovas said. “Everything is on the table.”
“I’m going to look at the totality of the group. This group hasn’t worked. There are a lot of great things in certain individual players and a lot of young boys who have taken a step forward and that is positive. But as a whole as a group it didn’t work. So I’ll have to find these answers in the offseason.
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